By Brandon Moseley
Alabama Political Reporter
The Tuscaloosa County Young Republicans will welcome Speaker of the Alabama House of Representatives Mike Hubbard (R from Auburn) to Tuscaloosa on November 19, 2014 at 7:00 pm.
In a statement the GOP group said, “The Tuscaloosa County Young Republicans are hosting Mike Hubbard, Speaker of the Alabama House of Representatives, at Hotel Capstone on November 19, 2014 at 7:00 pm CST. Although Speaker Hubbard has been indicted, he has stood firm on his word to meet with Tuscaloosa’s community and the Tuscaloosa County Young Republicans.”
This event is free to the public, however, donations to the Young Republicans are welcomed. The event will be held in the Governors Room at Hotel Capstone in Tuscaloosa, AL.
The Tuscaloosa County Young Republicans describe themselves as, “A premier organization for young, conservative, Republicans who see a need to further the values held by the Republican Party. We strive to provide our community with merit based solutions and able services as volunteers for events, candidates, officials etc.”
Mike Hubbard will be the Speaker of the Alabama House of Representatives for another term. That is the decision of the House Republican Caucus, which holds a commanding lead in the Alabama House and will have no trouble electing their leadership when the legislature convenes in January.
According to sources in the Thursday, November 6 meeting in Montgomery, the House GOP Caucus voted 59 to 8 with 2 abstaining for Mike Hubbard to continue as the Speaker of the House. Representative Mike Hubbard from Auburn defeated a challenge for the powerful role of Speaker by Representative Jim Carns from Vestavia.
On Monday, October 23, Speaker Hubbard was indicted on 23 counts unethical behavior. While some of the counts stem from Mike Hubbard’s tenure as Chairman of the Alabama Republican Party, most occurred during Hubbard’s past term as the Speaker of the House. Acting Attorney General Van Davis (R from Pell City) is alleging that Mike Hubbard used his position as Speaker of the Alabama House of Representatives to make money and grow his companies.
Speaker Hubbard has dismissed all of the charges against him as, “Political persecution.” 12 Lee County jurors will have to decide whether they agree with that or not.
Some pundits have suggested that it would bring unnecessary negative publicity for the state, for the Alabama Republican Party, and for the Alabama Republican Caucus for the sitting Republican Speaker to actually stand trial and that it would be better for everybody if Mike stepped down as Speaker and let somebody else handle the Speaker’s duties while Hubbard focused on his legal difficulties.
Republican legislators dismissed such arguments. Mike Hubbard is credited with running the 2010 campaign which gave the Republican Party control of both Houses of the Alabama Legislature for the first time in over 126 years and he remains very popular with many rank and file Alabama Republicans including the Young Republicans of Tuscaloosa County.
GOP pickups in the 2014 election mean that the Republican Super Majority in the House will have 72 seats to just 33 for Democrats. This will mean that the House Republicans should be able to cloture (shut off debate) any filibuster by the hopelessly out-manned House Democrats at will.
Speaker Hubbard said on Facebook after being reelected by his fellow Republican House Caucus members, “Great day. We now have 72 Republicans sworn in to office. Alabama is definitely moving forward with a conservative agenda.”
The Tuscaloosa County Young Republicans meet every third Wednesday at 7:00 pm CST., in the Hotel Capstone Lounge area. The Chairman of the Tuscaloosa County Young Republicans is Dalton Dismukes. The Co-Chairman is Matthew Hood.
